Tonight I took a group of dedicated photographers on a street walk. The focus of the walk was composition and lighting. We found both, plus a great subject – my good friend and wonderful photographer Lee Varis.

I took this shot with my Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-105mm lens (my favorite street lens) and my brand new Really Right Stuff tripod and ball head. ISO was 6400, which say a lot about the image sensor in the camera.

My friend Glenn Taylor and I are running an HDR/Model photography workshop in and around Atlanta, GA March 1st to 3rd, 2013. Here's the basic info on the workshop. We are only taking a small group, so space is limited.For now, Glenn, who as been to all the sites on the workshop, is today's guest blogger. Take it away Glenn.

In my work as a Creative Director for a business-to-business ad agency, I’m often contracted to shoot industrial-style photography of our client’s equipment, employees and locations all over the country. It’s not for everyone, but I love bringing these working environments to life.

In my off-time I shoot with several groups and friends in Atlanta and the surrounding area. Two of my favorite locations to shoot HDR and detail images are The Southeast Railway Museum in Duluth, GA and Old Car City in White, GA. Both locations are a treasure trove of heavy metal grunge images. The colors, textures and little details are just amazing!

Opening image: Sightseeing/cocktail car at the SE Railway Museum. I can always picture a scene from Mad Men taking place right in this car. This is a 5 exposure HDR, merged in Photamatix Pro and finished in Lightroom - taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 24-70mm L series lens. This is shot wide (around 34mm) while mounted on a Gitzo tripod with a RRS bullhead.

Rusted boxcar detail at the SE Railway Museum. I am drawn to detail and old paint textures. Here the multiple sixes and the row of rusty rivets built an interesting composition. This is a single exposure processed in Lightroom, taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 24-70mm L series lens. This was shot medium length (70mm) handheld in the outside yard area with natural light.

Kitchen car at the SE Railway Museum. The patina of the metal surfaces adds interest to all the geometric shapes in the composition. This is a 5 exposure HDR, merged in Photamatix Pro and finished in Lightroom - taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 24-70mm L series lens. This is shot wide (24mm) while mounted on a Gitzo tripod with a RRS ballhead.

Old Car City is a similar location with a completely different set of subjects: classic cars that are weathered, rusty and full of character. Just like the trains at SE Railway, HDR and details are everywhere you look.

The “office” at Old Car City. The texture around this part of the facility just jumps out at you. This is a 3 exposure HDR, merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro and finished in Lightroom - taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 24-70mm L series lens. This is shot wide (34mm) while mounted on a Gitzo tripod with a RRS bullhead.

Hood ornament detail at Old Car City. I shot this with backlighting from the morning sun that would emphasize the selective focus feature of the lens. This is a single exposure, processed in Lightroom, taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 90mm Tilt/Shift lens on a Gitzo tripod with a RRS bullhead.

Ladies in waiting at Old Car City. I liked the way this group looked like a beaten down car lot. This is a 3 exposure HDR, merged in Photomatix Pro and finished in Lightroom - taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 35mm lens. This is shot wide while mounted on a Gitzo tripod with a RRS bullhead.

Ford emblem fender detail at Old Car City. I captured this handheld at f2.8 to bring focus on just the emblem detail and let the rest of the fender fade into the background.

This is a single exposure, processed in Lightroom, taken with a Canon 5D Mk II and Canon 35mm lens.

Type B: The type that is a bit more expensive and a bit harder to carry.

The photographers who participate on my workshops show up with both types, but the photographers who show up with Type A leave the workshop knowing that as soon as they home they will purchase a Type B tripod. Here’s why.

Type A tripods are not as sturdy as Type B tripods. When shooting on a windy day at slow shutter speeds, Type A tripods might shake and you might get a blurry picture.

Type A tripods may actually blow over on a windy day, especially the light ones.

Type A tripods don’t offer the flexibility and height as more expensive tripods.

Type A tripods usually don’t support telephoto lenses as well as Type B tripods.

The legs of Type A tripods don’t lock as securely as the legs on Type B tripods.

Heads and release plates on Type A tripods don’t hold your camera as securely as those found on Type B tripods. Camera movement is sometimes also limited.

Type A tripods don’t hold up to weather and salt spray as well as Type B tripods.

The end of story: Spend a few extra bucks on a tripod and you will not regret your purchase. Also, you may want to purchase two Type B tripods: one for your light lens shooting and one for your “big guns” shooting.

If you are serious about landscape and wildlife photography, a Type B tripod is the only choice.

As an aside, the same goes for tele-converters: Go for the camera band name, and not an off-brand name.

My tripods and tele-converters, as well as well as all my camera gear, are listed on my Gear page.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. All the photographs in this post were taken on my recent Iceland Adventure with my Canon 5D Mark III.